Cicada invasion to suffocate much of U.S. — is NJ safe?

⚫ The scheduled 2024 cicada invasion hasn't been seen in 221 years

⚫ Billions of the loud pests are scheduled to emerge

⚫ New Jersey last experienced a cicada event in 2021

The largest periodical cicada brood in the country, Brood XIX, is scheduled to emerge this spring after 13 years underground. Around the same time, the adjacent Brood XIII is scheduled to pop up for the first time in 17 years.

These two broods haven't shared an emergence since 1803.

The once-in-a-lifetime event will bring billions of red-eyed buzzing pests to parts of the country.

Brood XIX has a presence in midwestern states and the southeastern portion of the U.S. And Brood XIII is mainly an Illinois problem.

Is NJ getting cicadas in 2024?

New Jersey residents don't have to worry about the deafening chaos, at least this year.

We are home to a few 17-year groupings of cicadas — none, however, are scheduled for a 2024 emergence, so we'll miss out on what some researchers are referring to as "cicada-geddon."

New Jersey most recently dealt with a cicada invasion in 2021. Brood X won't be back here until 2038.

There are annual cicada cycles that result in some insects coming up to the surface each year, said George Hamilton, extension specialist in pest management with Rutgers Cooperative Extension.

"But the numbers that we have are not the numbers that we see with the 17-years that come out here," Hamilton said.

But Brood XIV is scheduled for a 2025 emergence in 13 states, including New Jersey (select spots). It's the second largest brood behind Brood XIX that's coming out in full force this year.

Brood II cicadas, last seen here in 2013, are scheduled to emerge from the ground to mate in the year 2030.

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